A conflict is brewing between Government and the Office of the Contractor General (OCG) over Government's intention to exempt some public entities from the state-regulated contract procurement regime.

According to the Greg Christie-led OCG, certain procurements by four govern-ment entities - Air Jamaica Limited, Petrojam Limited, The Jamaica Tourist Board and Jamaica Vacations Limited - have been exempt from the application of the Government Procurement Procedures Hand-book (GPPH). The actual contracts were not named by the OCG.

Resistance ahead

The intention, the OCG said, was considered and approved by Cabinet in December last year and published in a Ministry of Finance circular on September 22 this year.

But in a strongly-worded release to the media, yesterday, protesting the action of the Government, the OCG said it would be fiercely resisting the Government's intent to circumvent the stipulated guidelines.

"The OCG, in the discharge of its responsibilities under the Contractor General Act, will be obliged to utilise all the powers that are available to it to subject the exempted entities, their officers and their contracting practices, to an intensified and sustained level of scrutiny the likes of which will be unprecedented in the 23-year history of the OCG," read the release.

The OCG said it was never consulted on the matter by the Government and evidenced 10 reasons it would not support the Government's actions in the three-page release.

Using Air Jamaica as an example, the OCG said many of the entities did not show the capacity to self-monitor their procurement regimes, noting that previous investigations by the office highlighted glaring inadequacies in transparency and competition. The process also lacked compliance with contracting best practices.

The OCG said the Government's action contradicted its stated commitment to crimi-nalise breaches of the state's contract procedures.

Minister of Finance Audley Shaw declined to comment of the allegations of the OCG, requesting that a copy of the release be faxed to his office first. A response was not received up to press time last evening.